Vocalist Sofia Reí is everywhere these days: This fall season alone she will tour to Colombia, Panama, Ecuador and Florida, she’ll drop in at the Vermont Jazz Center on October 30th at 8:00 PM, make music in her adopted city of New York and then travel to Austria and Germany to play with her trio. This Argentinian singer is making a splash everywhere she travels. Her versatility and brilliance have the New York Times claiming: “the passion and clarity with which she assayed a tricky mix of South American rhythms and jazz-inflected harmonies made clear why she has been embraced by New York City audiences from Carnegie Hall to the hippest downtown haunts.”
On Friday, October 30th at 8:00 PM, Sofia Rei’s concert will mark the first collaboration between the Vermont Jazz Center and Next Stage Arts. Their managing teams agree that Rei’s complex yet accessible music fits both of their individual programming goals while supporting their shared vision. Rei’s repertoire is comprised of rich original compositions set over a well-spring of rhythms from Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Peru. Her music is naturally diverse and inherently beautiful and it thrives on grooving rhythms illuminated by carefully crafted arrangements and uncompromising musicianship.
Sofia will be performing with a quartet comprised of musicians who know her music exceptionally well. Her ensemble includes long-time musical collaborator and co-arranger Jorge Roeder on acoustic bass, Eric Kurimski (who played guitar on her last two albums) and Franco Pinna on drums and percussion. Rei will sing and play the charango which is a 10-stringed ukulele-like instrument used in certain styles of Andean folkloric music. Roeder is from Peru, Kurimski is a specialist in Afro-Peruvian music and Pinna is an Argentinian drummer whose focus is on the performance and study of the rhythms of South America.
Rei’s music explores connections between the various traditions of South American folklore, jazz, world music and electronic sounds. Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, she ties together diverse influences in a program full of rhythmic complexity, and a melodic purity that haunts even as it uplifts the listener. Sofia Rei studied classical music as a voice major at the National Conservatory of Music in Buenos Aires before moving to Boston to study at the New England Conservatory where she received her Master’s Degree. She has recorded, performed and collaborated with John Zorn, Bobby McFerrin, Maria Schneider, Folklore Urbano, Frank London, the Klezmatics, Guillermo Klein, Celso Duarte, Lionel Loueke, Geoffrey Keezer, Pavel Urkiza (Gema y Pavel), Russ Ferrante (Yellow Jackets), Bob Moses, Steve Lacy, Aquiles Baez, Samuel Torres Group, Pedrito Martinez, La Bomba de Tiempo, Alcatraz, and Avantango. She toured Europe with the Grammy award winning Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra. In May of 2008, she was featured with vocal giant Bobby McFerrin at Carnegie Hall. Sofia is currently part of John Zorn’s Song Project and the vocalist for Geoffrey Keezer’s Aurea whose self-titled 2009 release received a Grammy nomination for Best Latin Jazz Album. In October 2009. Sofia contributed her vocals to Ljova Zhurbin’s Niña Dance, a song cycle inspired by the unsolved murders & disappearances of women and young girls in the city of Juárez, Mexico. Her debut album Ojala has received great critical acclaim and has been chosen as a top 10 album of 2006 by the Jazz Journalists Association. She has also received the Best Latin Jazz Vocalist of 2009 Award by the Latin Jazz Corner. Building on the success of her award-winning second release, Sube Azul, Sofía returned with De Tierra Y Oro (“Of Earth and Gold”) with songs that draw on a wide range of South American folkloric influences and bracingly modern sounds. The album received two independent “Best of” Music Awards and has been featured on The New York Times, Time Out, Village Voice, World Music Central, CNN and NPR.
The guitarist in the group, Eric Kurimski, is known around New York and the Peruvian communities around the world for his deft ability to fuse jazz with the rhythms of Peru and Latin America. He has performed in venues throughout the Unites States Europe, Peru, Mexico, Cuba, Ecuador, and Puerto Rico including the Blue Note, Lincoln Center, Jazz Gallery, BAM, SOB’s, Jazz Bakery, and Regatta Bar. Eric has shared the stage or recorded with Joan Baez, Marc Ribot, Oscar Stagnaro, Tania, William Luna, and many more. He has been featured in various publications including Guitar Player Magazine, All About Jazz, World Music Central, and Latin Jazz Network.
Originally from Lima, Peru, Jorge Roeder is one of the most versatile bass players in the New York jazz scene. He was awarded First Prize at the 2007 International Society Of Bassists Jazz Competition and was a semi-finalist at the 2009 Thelonious Monk Jazz Bass Competition. At the age of 16 he was invited to pursue his classical studies at the Rimsky Korsakov Conservatory in St. Petersburg, Russia. At 18, Jorge was appointed assistant principal bassist of the Lima Philharmonic and Opera orchestras. Upon moving to Boston in 2002, Jorge received a scholarship from the New England Conservatory of Music where he studied jazz performance with Danilo Perez, Charlie Banacos and John Lockwood among others. Touring, recording, and performing actively in New York City, Jorge is currently part of several projects including The Julian Lage Group (whose debut album was nominated for a Grammy for the “Best Contemporary Jazz Album” in 2009). He plays regularly with Victor Prieto Trio, Ryan Keberle’s Catharsis, Gary Burton, Alex Acuna, Geoffrey Keezer, Steve Lacy, Antonio Sanchez, Kenny Werner and Matt Wilson.
The drummer for the group, Franco Pinna, started his musical career in 1988 in his native city of Tucuman, Argentina. He moved to Boston to study at Berklee College of Music where he obtained an “Outstanding Musicianship” scholarship and graduated Magna Cum Laude. Pinna has dedicated himself to the study of South American folkloric rhythms and to incorporating traditional percussion instruments to the drum set and developing his own style based on these techniques. He has performed with many artists around the globe and can be heard on over 70 CDs.
Come find out why Chip Boaz of the online magazine Latin Jazz Corner states: “Sofia’s vocal prowess contains an emotional impact that leaves an audience gasping for air and begging for more. Her power and precision sets her apart from the legions of current jazz vocalists.” Sofia Rei will be performing at the Vermont Jazz Center on Friday, October 30th at 8:00 PM. The VJC is grateful for ongoing support from the Vermont Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. Hospitality for our artists is provided by the Hampton Inn of Brattleboro. VJC publicity is underwritten by the Brattleboro Reformer, WVPR, WVEW and WFCR.
Tickets for Sophia Rei are $20+ general admission, $15 for students with I.D. (contact VJC about educational discounts); available at In the Moment in Brattleboro, by email at ginger@vtjazz.rog , or online at www.vtjazz.org. Tickets can also be reserved by calling the Vermont Jazz Center ticket line, 802-254-9088, ext. 1. Handicapped access is available by calling the VJC.
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PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release
Contact: Eugene Uman at eugene@vtjazz.org or 802 258 8822
Argentinian Vocalist specializing in South American rhythms to Perform at Vermont Jazz Center in Collaboration with Next Stage
Short Summary
Who: Sofia Rei,vocals and charango; Eric Kurimski, guitar; Jorge Roeder, upright bass;Franco Pinna, drums, percussion.
What: Jazz influenced by the varied rhythms and styles of Argentina, Colombia, Bolivia, etc.
When: Friday, October 30th, 2015 at 8:00 PM
Where: The Vermont Jazz Center, 72 Cotton Mill Hill, #222, Brattleboro, VT
Tickets available: online at www.vtjazz.org, by email at ginger@vtjazz.org, by phone 802 254 9088, in person at In The 143 Moment, Main St., Brattleboro, VT.
